On Monday, France unveiled its new government with a view to ending weeks of political uncertainty that began after the fall of ex-Prime Minister Michel Barnier and his Cabinet earlier this month. The new 39-member Cabinet, announced by President Emmanuel Macron’s Chief of Staff Alexis Kohler from the Elysee Palace, proved to be a combination of seasoned politicians and unsuspected new recruitments in some of the key roles.
Bruno Retailleau kept his post of minister of the interior keeping watch over national security. Gerald Darmanin, once interior minister, has now been called to survey the activities at the helm of the Justice Ministry. While Jean-Noel Barrot continued the external relations with foreign countries, Benjamin Haddad later took up the ministerial position for European affairs, where he will be under France’s relations concerning the EU category. He touches on matters appertaining to economic strategy amidst a less-than-ideal economic environment in his new role as economy minister.
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Former Prime Minister Manuel Valls ended in that office by becoming the minister for overseas territories. The minister will be bogged down with troublemaking issues like the crisis in the Mayotte territory, the French Indian Ocean archipelagos recently battered by a cyclone. Elisabeth Borne, former premier, was appointed minister of education. A veteran with immense experience, Borne previously served as transport, ecological transition, and labor minister.
France has been suffering political crisis since June, when Macron’s centrist block was crippled and the far-right party National Rally (RN) won the European Parliament elections. In reaction, Macron called for a couple of rounds of snap parliamentary elections on June 30 and July 7. No party won 289 seats, the threshold for an absolute majority in the National Assembly. The left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) alliance won the most votes and seats in parliament in the second round and later insisted that the prime minister must be from the alliance, but it failed to quickly nominate a consensus candidate for the position.
After several weeks of internal divisions, on July 23, the NFP nominated Lucie Castets for premier. Macron rejected Castets, saying he will appoint a premier only by the middle of August, following the Paris Olympics. Delay in the process has led to further instability as he accepted then-Premier Gabriel Attal’s resignation on July 16, after initially rejecting it on July 8. On September 5, finally, Macron appointed Barnier, who was at the time a center-right politician, former European commissioner, and former foreign minister, as premier. Barnier’s government was the first French government to collapse after a no-confidence vote since 1962.
France is suffering from a political crisis since June: after the defeat of Macron’s centrist block in the French parliamentary elections, the far-right National Rally party won the European Parliament elections. In rejecting these two events, Macron proclaimed that on June 30 and July 7 there would be two rounds of snip elections to fill the seats in the National Assembly, of which no party won 289 seats, the minimum for an absolute majority. The left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) alliance received the most votes and seats in the parliament on the second round and later insisted that the post of prime minister has to be with the alliance, but failed to immediately nominate a consensus candidate to the position.
After weeks of internal divisions, the NFP nominated Lucie Castets for premier on July 23. But Macron rejected Castets, saying he would not appoint a premier until mid-August. He faced criticism for delaying the process that caused more tension after he accepted then-Prime Minister Gabriel Attal’s resignation on July 16 after initially rejecting it on July 8. Finally, on September 5, Macron appointed Barnier, a centre right politician and persevered as former European commissioner and former foreign minister, as premier. This was the first French government to fall due to a no-confidence vote since 1962.